October 15, 2021: The Biden Administration plans to lift travel restrictions for international travelers coming to the U.S. from countries that are currently subject to COVID-19 travel restrictions (as well as National Interest Exception [NIE] waivers) on November 8. In place of the travel restriction and/or NIE requirement, all international travelers, including those coming from Read More »
Government News
New Proclamation Suspending Certain H-1B (and other) Entries
**UPDATE** On February 24, 2021, President Biden rescinded Presidential Proclamation 10014 (issued in April 2020), which suspend entry of certain immigrant visa applicants. HOWEVER, please note that Presidential Proclamation 10052, which suspended the entry of certain nonimmigrant visa applicants through March 31, 2021, is still in effect. **UPDATE** On December 31, 2020, President Trump Read More »
Travel and USCIS Updates
**UPDATE** On October 20, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) indicated that it will continue to implement the ban on non-essential travel across U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico through January 21, 2022. However, these restrictions will be lifted on November 8, 2021 for fully COVID-19-vaccinated foreign nationals only, to align with the Read More »
USCIS Offices Reopening Starting June 4
**UPDATE** On May 27, USCIS announced that it is preparing to reopen some local offices om June 4. According to USCIS, it “is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines to protect our workforce and the public. For the latest information on the status of individual offices, check our office closures page. While certain Read More »
UPDATE to Implementation of New DHS Public Charge Rule
**UPDATE** On March 9, 2021, DHS rescinded implementation of the new public charge rule that went into effect last year, because the Biden Administration withdrew the prior Administration’s appeal of a pending federal lawsuit, which had the effect of reinstating a lower court decision which invalidated the 2019 Public Charge rule. As of March 9, Read More »
Updates on Executive Order “Travel Bans”
**UPDATE** On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, President Biden issued a new Presidential Proclamation that revoked the previous travel bans related to people from predominantly Muslim and African countries. A link to this new proclamation is available here. The State Department has been charged with creating a plan for immigrant visas denied under the prior ban Read More »
DHS Fraud Alert regarding telephone scam (March 2019)
On March 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a fraud alert to warn about reports that DHS telephone numbers have been used as part of a telephone spoofing scam throughout the country. As stated in the DHS press release: “The perpetrators of the scam represent themselves Read More »
U.S. State Department to Reduce H Visa Interviews in China to Three Locations
February 4, 2019: Starting March 1, 2019, H and L visa interviews in China will be limited to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing or the U.S. Consulates in Guangzhou or Shanghai. Since H interviews will only be conducted in these three locations, visa applicants will probably experience longer wait times to make visa appointments and Read More »
Update on Partial Government Shutdown, 2018-2019
**UPDATE** on January 25, 2019, the President signed a short-term funding bill that reopened the federal government. The bill does not include funds to construct a border wall, and only includes funding through February 15, 2019. Congress passed the bill immediately, but another partial shutdown could occur again if Congress and the White House do Read More »
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Injunction Requiring Acceptance of DACA Renewals
November 9, 2018: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a District Court’s nationwide injunction requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to continue to accept DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) application renewals while a lawsuit challenging the Administration’s termination of DACA continues. In affirming the lower court’s ruling and injunction, the Ninth Read More »